"Choo-Choo"- Train Birthday Party

This little monster just turned three!

Boy, he is REALLY lucky he is so stinkin cute, because he is like a wild animal lately!

I found tons and tons of amazing train party ideas.

It was hard to control myself and not go completely overboard (I told everyone-and myself-I was going to keep it under control this time).  I had so much fun making all of this stuff and plan on passing it all on to a friend in the future!  

Here is what we did....

 I used a "vintage travel" themed pack of scrapbook paper to make the banners. I turned 2 old metal serving trays into chalkboards, 

used scrap wood to make rail road crossing signs, and printed and framed old train travel posters.

I decorated the buffet in our living room with an old suitcase, 

 I printed out photos of Everett from over the past three years and strung them in a few different places in the house. I also used some globes and old cameras to get a vintagey feel going.

I strung a small, "All Aboard" banner across the top of the suitcase.

I filled the suitcase with the goodie bags. I bought conductor hats and train whistles from Oriental Trading for a steal!

I knew the kids would mostly be running around and playing in our kid-friendly basement, but I wanted to have something train related for them to do. I bought 2 yards of flannel and cut out a train engine and boxcar. Then I bought a few sheets of felt and cut out train parts, shapes, and "stuff to decorate the train with. I hung the whole thing on the wall in the dining room with our food table and the kids are STILL playing with it.

The dining room had another small banner and more photos of the birthday boy.

I will confess here that I completely forgot to take pics of the awesome food display. How the heck did that happen? NO CLUE. I used shoe boxes and made them into a train to hold snacks. We had fruit skewers, cookies, and chips in the three boxcars. I also had the juice boxes in an old valet case. I did manage a shot of the cupcake cake though!

For the kitchen, I made a Railroad Crossing sign banner 

and printed off lots of sketches and plans of trains as well as old maps of train routes.

I covered the kitchen table with black bulletin board  paper  and the kids used chalk to draw trains and tracks.

It was so cute, pretty inexpensive, and not over the top. But it was exactly what I was going for!

Ev was the happiest little boy ever and that is what really matters! Bonus was I didn't stress out and have anxiety for the week prior to the party because I FORCED myself to keep it low key. I need to remember this in March when my daughter, Holden, turns 5!